Tian Xueren, formerly a vice governor of the northeastern province of Jilin, is accused of taking 19.19 million yuan ($3.1 million) from 10 companies and individuals, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Tian, who allegedly received the bribes between 1995 and 2011, appeared before the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.

The report said that during the period Tian allegedly took the bribes, he had also served in various Communist Party posts, including party chief of an ethnic Korean autonomous prefecture in Jilin. He also formerly served as board chairman of the Bank of Jilin.

Tian was dismissed from all his posts and expelled from the party in July 2012 for "severe disciplinary and law violations", Xinhua said, adding that his "illegal gains have been confiscated".

The verdict was to be announced later.

The anti-corruption campaign by China's new leaders has so far netted a series of low-ranking officials and a handful of senior figures, but no systematic reforms have yet been introduced to tackle what is seen as widespread graft among officialdom.

Mexico leader Enrique Pena Nieto has no plans to meet the Dalai Lama when the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader begins a tour of the country on Friday.

It is the first time in four visits that no representative of Mexico's government will meet with the Dalai Lama as the country aims to boost ties with China.

"The President of Mexico (Enrique Pena Nieto) does not intend to meet the Dalai Lama, and we have not requested a meeting," Casa Tibet Mexico founder and president Marco Antonio Karam told AFP.

"We do not feel that the environment is favorable for this and we do not want to create political controversy that would hurt the visit."

Karam's group represents the Tibetan people in Latin America.

He said no government official had requested to meet with the Dalai Lama.

During his first visit to Mexico in 1989, the Tibetan spiritual leader, accused by China of encouraging separatism, was received by then president Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

When he returned in 2004, he met with a senior immigration official, while in September 2011, he had a private meeting with then president Felipe Calderon.

The Calderon meeting triggered discomfort in Beijing, and contributed to the relationship between Mexico and China becoming "the most tense in the past 40 years," with the crisis exacerbated by the large Mexican trade diplomats, said Enrique Dussel Peters of the Center for Chinese-Mexican Studies at the Autonomous University of Mexico.

But this time, the Dalai Lama will find a Mexico that has taken a "quantum leap" in its ties with the Asian giant, Dussel added.

Pena Nieto has already met Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping three times this year.

During Xi's Mexico visit in June, Pena Nieto's government reiterated its support for Beijing's "One China" policy, recognizing Taiwan and Tibet as part of China's territory.

The spiritual leader plans to give Buddhist teachings at an entertainment center over the weekend.

Mexican Catholic Church authorities will host him on Saturday and on Monday, he will give a free lecture for students.

On Tuesday, he will travel to the central sate of Guanajuato to meet with former president Vicente Fox and give a lecture on "compassion in action."

The Dalai Lama will head to neighboring Zacatecas to talk about the "art of happiness" and make a prayer for peace on Wednesday.

Chinese court agrees to hear Bo Xilai appealBeijing (AFP) Oct 09, 2013 A Chinese court said Wednesday it would hear an appeal by fallen Communist Party star Bo Xilai, who was convicted of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power last month and jailed for life.
Appeals in such high-profile cases are rare in China's tightly controlled courts.
The move could be another act of defiance by the populist ex-politician - who mounted a feisty defence at his trial - ... read more

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